Panama Canal in talks for 4th set of locks

With work still not complete on the $6 billion-plus third set of locks for the Panama Canal, the agency that manages the critical commercial waterway has already begun to plan the next expansion.
On Friday, Panama Canal Authority officials met with the chairman of China Harbour Enginering Co. about a potential partnership to design, construct and finance a fourth set of locks, the agency said.
The Panama Canal is of strategic interest to China because exports are a huge part of its economy. The new, wider locks that are expected to open to traffic in 2016 will allow much larger vessels to transit with goods from Asia to the U.S. East Coast, and other parts of the hemisphere. But China is also rapidly increasing imports of of raw materials and perishable items from South America, and more Canal capacity could help increase transportation efficiency for Chinese shippers.
Panamanian and U.S. officials have previously hinted that a fourth set of locks could be in the future, but Panamanian officials appear to have accelerated their planning.
CHEC is a global construction firm. It said it plans to set up a regional headquarters in Panama.